Burning Confessions
by Montage
Summary: Disaster strikes the Quest compound...any more would ruin the story. Please R


DISCLAIMER: I...do...not...own...them!!!! So there :P   
  
Burning Confessions 1/1   
~Montage~   
  
Jessie coughed and choked as she inhaled the thick black smoke that filled her room. She opened her eyes, but quickly closed them again as the smoke stung them. The wallpaper peeled and melted from the walls as the smoke got thicker.   
Getting over her initial panic, Jessie rolled from her bed and hit the floor. She made her way to the door on her hands and knees. She reached for the doorknob, but stopped when she remembered that the fire could be even worse in the hallway. Placing the back of her hand against the door, she found it iveryi hot.   
  
Jessie crawled to the window and unlocked it. She had to stand to lift it, holding her breath against the menacing cloud of smoke. The window wouldn't budge. She searched frantically for something to break the window with, but didn't find anything through the blinding black mass that surrounded her. Panicked, she slammed her fist through the glass. She was beginning to get dizzy from lack of oxygen. She felt herself getting lightheaded. With all the strength she could gather, she threw herself out the broken window and onto the ground outside.   
The last thing she saw were the lights on the fire trucks; and then everything went black.   
  
The lights were blinding and the smell made her want to throw up. Those were the first things that went through Jessie's mind when she awoke. She could hear voices; one was familiar...her mother. She was crying as she talked to a man; but who?   
Jessie looked around her. The room was completely white and immaculately clean--a hospital room. Her head throbbed and her whole body ached. Her lungs burned with every breath she took. She looked down to find her hand wrapped in a bandage. She realized it hurt like nothing she'd ever felt before; like there were little shards of glass inside of it. Images of her hand going through the window and the fire invaded her mind. She tried to sit up, but laid back down when her head began to spin.   
"Mom?" her parched voice was but a whisper. Her mother continued to talk to the man outside of her room.   
Jessie tried three more times to get her attention before she became frustrated and threw a stethoscope that had been left by her bed at the door. Estella Valsques came running into the room, "Jessie, are you all right?" Jessie nodded feebly.   
"We were so worried about you. The doctors said you might be in a coma for the rest of your life; or that you could even..." she couldn't finish the sentence, "I'm just happy you're okay!"   
"Where's everyone else? Can I see them?" Jessie whispered the questions.   
Estella pursed her lips and tears ran down her cheeks, "I'm sorry, Jessie."   
Jessie looked at her mother, shocked, "For what!?"   
"They...didn't make it out," Estella whispered.   
Jessie's heart broke. Her entire family had burned to death. After all they'd been through, a measly fire did them in. She began to cry uncontrollably. Estella tried to comfort her daughter and hugged her, but Jessie pushed her away.   
"I wanna be alone," she said in a choked whisper.   
Her mother nodded knowingly, "I'll be here if you need me," she said as she left.   
  
The funerals were small. Only Doug Wildey, Pasha, Hadji's mother, and the presidents of the USA and Chezk (sp) Republic attended with Jessie and her mother. Jessie had cried when they'd buried her father, Hadji, and Benton. But when they buried Jonny...she'd completely broken down. Estella couldn't understand why she cried harder for her best friend thatn she did for her father. When they got ready to go, Pasha held the door open for Jessie. She was about to climb into the jeep when she suddenly turned and headed back to the cemetery.   
"Jessie, what are you doing?" Estella called after her.   
"I need to do something. I'll be right back," Jessie yelled over her shoulder. She approached Jonny's fresh grave solemnly, her eyes lowered. She stared at the headstone for a few moments and then spoke, "Hiya, Jonny. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Not that you died, I know that wasn't my fault. I feel bad that there was nothing I could do, but that's life, I guess. I never told you how I felt about you. You were always a good friend, we had some of the greatest times of our lives together; but I thought of you as more than a friend. I'm sorry I never got to tell you. Well, I guess this is good-bye...since we never actually got to say it," she turned to go, fresh tears in her eyes, "I love you..." the words were a whisper. And with her last words to her best friend, she made her way back to the jeep.   
  
  
  
  



End file.
